The Amazing Spider-Man #9

[fan4]

The Amazing Spider-Man #9
The Sentinels Take Manhattan

Written by Daniel Dyer
Edited by Aaron Martel

Peter Parker’s weekend went by relatively quickly. Spider-Man stopped a few purse-snatchers, a couple of muggings, and rescued one cat stuck in a tree. No super villainous schemes to thwart. No cities to save. In other words, a boring weekend.

But now it’s Monday and it’s time for Peter Parker to face the music.

“Peter Parker, where were you?” Liz Allen storms up to Peter in the hallway of Midtown High.

Saving the city from a mad scientist with four mechanical arms, Peter thinks to himself, then replies, “Uh... my aunt made me stay in. You saw the news report, right?”

“Blaming your aunt? The danger was over almost as soon as it started!” Liz then storms off.

I saved the city! Some gratitude. Of course, she doesn’t know I saved the city. Maybe that’d solve all my problems. I should hold a press conference and reveal my identity to the world. Naw…

“Hey, ‘Skin’,” Peter hears Flash Thompson’s voice say from down the hall. “Give me some skin.”

“Ow,” is also heard.

Hmmm, looks like Flash found someone else to torment. Peter starts to walk away.

Hearing “Mutie freak” stops Peter in his tracks.

Mutie? And Peter heads towards the commotion, seeing a bunch of jocks, Flash in the lead, picking on a new kid, with books laying all over the hallway floor.

This new kid is latino and has a grayish pigmentation. Peter can’t help but notice how his skin looks almost... loose.

“Give me some skin, too, amigo.”

Peter’s eyes almost bug out when he sees Kong MacFarlane pull on the latino’s cheek, stretching it out about a foot from the kid’s face. He is a mutant…

“Is there a problem here?” Mr. Slattery approaches the crowd. “Well...?”

“No sir, Mr. Slattery.” Flash puts his arm around the new kid. “We were just playing with the new kid, weren’t we?”

“Yeah,” the new kid says. “Just goofin’ ‘round, homes.”

As Slattery leaves, so do the jocks and Peter walks over, helping the kid with his books.

“Gracias,” the new kid says.

“I know how it is to be tormented by those guys,” Peter says. “You get used to it.”

“Doubtful, I won’t be here long enough.”

“Didn’t you just transfer in?” asks Peter.

“No,” the latino states, “I’m here visitin’ a cousin and my familia thought it’d be just ‘keen’ ta audit some classes while I’m here.”

After he finishes putting away his books, he puts his book bag on. “Angelo,” he says while offering his hand to Peter.

“Peter.” Shaking Angelo’s hand. “You’re a mutant?”

“Yeah.”

“And you can stretch like Mr. Fantastic? Cool.”

“Not quite,” Angelo corrects. “My body doesn’t stretch. I was born with around six feet of extra skin which can extend. My bone structure is the same as any normal person.”

“I see.”

The two begin walking. “So, you a mutant, too?”

Mutant? My powers…could they…be from a mutation? “Why do you ask that?”

“You said those bigots bother you, too.”

“Oh, those guys. No, they just make fun of what they don’t understand,” Peter explains. “You should see how they pick on the kids who use hygiene products...like deodorant.”

Angelo laughs. “Then you ain’t worried about catchin’ it from me?”

“Naw, I had my shots,” Peter jokes, and they both laugh.

[fan4]

The day goes on and Peter and Angelo become fast friends.

“Hey,” says Peter as the two leave the school grounds, “You never told me where you’re from.”

“Los Angeles,” Angelo answers. At the mention of where he’s from, Angelo hangs his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’...”

“Halt,” comes a monotone voice from behind them.

Peter and Angelo both turn and see a humanoid, purple and red robot behind them.

“Unregistered mutant and enhanced human,” comes the voice of the mutant-hunting robot known as a Sentinel.

“Enhanced...” Angelo starts, looking over at Peter.

“MOVE!” And Peter shoves Angelo down just before the robot tries to blast Angelo. Spider-sense warned me in the nick of time. “RUN!” yells Peter.

Angelo doesn’t need to be told twice and they both hightail it.

“Enhanced human?” questions Angelo.

“Well...”

And another robot descends from the sky in front of them. “Cease and desist.”

Peter and Angelo turn and run down an alley.

“Keep a secret?” Peter says to Angelo.

“Yeah...”

Peter then takes Angelo’s hand and leaps onto the alley wall, scurrying higher and higher, carrying Angelo up with him.

“You’re Spider-Man?!”

Reaching the roof, Peter says, “How’d you guess?” He then takes his shirt off, revealing the top half of his costume.

“You wear your costume under your clothes?”

“Never leave home without it.” Peter finishes changing, pulling his mask on. “Ready?”

“For what?”

“For this, ‘Skin’.” Spider-Man fires out a web-line, grabs Angelo by the waist, and swings off the roof.

“AAAAHHHHHH!!!” yells Angelo.

“YEEE-AHH!!!” exclaims Spider-Man.

“P... Peter?”

“Yes, me amigo?”

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Unhand the unregistered mutant,” a Sentinel orders as it flies in pursuit.

“Uh... how about no?” quips Spidey and he changes directions. “Any ideas?”

Before Angelo can answer, another Sentinel blasts Spidey’s web-line.

As they fall, Angelo extends the skin on his fingers, wrapping them around a flagpole, swinging the duo to a lower rooftop.

“Nice move,” says Spider-Man.

“Yeah,” Angelo answers, “But it hurts like a motha.”

“Halt!” a Sentinel says as three others surround Spidey and Angelo. “You are surrounded. Surrender.”

Spidey and Angelo look at each other.

“I guess they have us,” says Spidey.

“All right,” Angelo states, “I’ll go quietly.”

“As if,” the duo say in unison.

Angelo whips the skin from his arm at the knee joints of one Sentinel, wrapping the flesh around it and slamming it to the ground far below the roof as Spidey leaps up and slams the heads of two Sentinels together.

“These things aren’t so tough,” states the web-swinger.

“Yeah, just one... OW!” Angelo screams as he receives a blast in the shoulder from the remaining Sentinel.

“Angelo!” screams Spidey.

“Target neutralized. Acquire target,” the robotic attacker states.

“Over my dead body, tin man,” Spidey declares as he comes between the Sentinel and Angelo.

The Sentinel raises its hand and it begins to glow. “Request accepted.”

Spider-sense is blaring like crazy. I have a feeling this guy means business. Time to improvise.

As the Sentinel is about to blast, Spider-Man grabs the killer robot’s wrist and bends the arm, redirecting the blast into the robot’s own head.

“Heads up,” Spidey quips. “Or off, anyways.”

“Ugh,” groans Angelo.

Spidey turns to Angelo. “Don’t worry, man. I’ll get you to a hospital.”

[fan4]

Later, Peter and Angelo (his arm in a sling) leave a hospital. Spider-Man had dropped Angelo off, saying that the Sentinels were after a different mutant and Angelo got caught in the crossfire. Maybe an injured civilian might gain public support for the government to decommission these robots.

“Thanks, essay,” Angelo starts, “For not tellin’ the doctors I was the target.”

“Hey, I know how to keep a secret.”

Angelo grins. “So do I, ‘me amigo’.”

“Glad to hear it. When ya go back to la-la land, don’t forget you have a friend on the East Coast.”

“And a celebrity at that,” laughs Angelo.

Peter, laughing, says, “Well, you know, I do try.”

“Com’on, man,” Angelo begins, “You need ta show me ‘round. This is New York, the town that doesn’t sleep! The Big Enchilada!”

“Big Apple,” Peter corrects. “Come on, let’s paint this town red.”

The end